After a nearly 18-month investigation, Penticton RCMP are recommending charges over a series of “financial irregularities” involving someone connected with the Downtown Penticton Association.

Supt. Ted De Jager confirmed Friday that the detailed file is now in the hands of the Crown’s office in Penticton.

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Former DPA executive director Kerri Milton said in a May 2017 interview that she was surprised to learn of the investigation.

Milton, who now resides in Victoria, noted she was particularly surprised by the possibility of financial irregularities because DPA bookkeeping and auditing are handled by outside firms, and cheques are signed by board members.

“I didn’t even have signing authority on purpose, because of keeping it an arm’s-length situation, so I don’t even know how that would be possible,” she said.

The name of the suspect or suspects has not been disclosed to the media. It is known that the investigation zeroed in on a time frame between 2013 and 2016.

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Speaking of feedback, painting the crosswalks and sidewalks seemed like a fairly benign decision, but you got slammed for it as a waste of money.Here’s a classic example of misunderstanding, and this really gets under my skin. “Why are you wasting the tax dollars on painting the sidewalk?” Well, actually, we’re not. The City put in $60,000, the private sector put in $120,000. There’s sidewalks, there’s a new retail kiosk, there’s new public art, there’s a new bike shelter, there’s a new bike-mechanic station — so we turned $60,000 tax dollars into a $120,000 investment in the public realm. Isn’t that what you want? Isn’t that the point? That’s good business sense.

In a bid to determine the issues faced by businesses in Victoria’s core, the Downtown Victoria Business Association is launching what it hopes will be an annual survey. The DVBA intends to contact each of its 1,500 members to get an idea of business performance, the experience of operating downtown and issues the businesses face...